Your emails and letters are going out. You’re making phone calls. You’re setting up informational and networking meetings. It’s taking a lot of your effort, but somehow the best prospects elude you. It’s taking too much time. You are prepared to offer a compelling value proposition, but realize that it needs to happen face to face. You’re not frustrated by this challenge. You’re fascinated. You need to cut through the clutter. You’re through spinning your wheels, waiting for a response. You are on a quest to garner better results. You know face to face kicks off new relationships, rekindles familiar ones really well. This article is part one of a two part series. Part two prescribes an approach.

Identify the best leads, contacts: Companies that are growing fast, willing to make investments, and decision makers that recognize the value of your contribution.

Make timing be in your favor just like the black smith striking while the iron is hot, you are addressing their concerns when their awareness of needed changes is piqued, their interest is focused, and their commitment to do something is highest.

Improve your effectiveness, make it manifest: Shortening the time to the meeting or interview, speeding up the time to an offer or acceptance of your proposal, raising visibility to a bigger set of opportunities, obtaining a larger more lucrative contract, or better salary and benefits package, meeting firms qualified with needs for your offering and resources at their disposal.

Your Homework First

It’s important to be prepared before you are face to face with the influential person. What kind of conversations do you want to lead? In my next article, I’ll focus on the method and give you some ideas for implementing the face to face strategy. You don’t want to limit yourself only to meeting the hiring manager or the decision maker. In fact, it is likely better not to in the beginning. This homework you do will help you distinguish yourself, and you will accelerate the results of the sales call, informational or networking interview, or the hiring interview. The process focuses on a professional event.

You Are The Change Agent

The mentality behind the strategy I’m about to spotlight for you comes from an excellent book, Selling Change by Brett Clay. Check it out if you like the questions he presents and you will ask your targeted influential person. What you learn and teach in pursuit of these questions is the price of admission. When you study these, you have definitely earned a place in the corner office. With these answers, you can make a compelling proposition for your newest customer or employer.

What are the forces your client is feeling?

What is the client’s best response to those forces?

What will it take to respond to a change? What is the effort, the cost, the risk?

What value will be created by the change?

How will the client initiate the change?

I welcome your experience from using the questions with your targeted key influential persons.